Næniusk
Begonian is the English name for this conlang. Phonology Consonants Allophony #Plosives tend to be aspirated if word-initial or in a stressed syllable, preaspirated if following vowels and unaspirated when in the environment of consonants or at the end of a word. Though it is up to the individual whether to pre- or postaspirate fortis stops. (There’s a more detailed description regarding aspiration further below) #Some allophones: ç, ʝ (usually in the environment of front vowels), ɣ (esp. intervocalic) or χ. #Intervocalic lenis stops are replaced by the corresponding approximants or fricatives: /b/ --> or β̞, /d/ --> or ð̞, /ȡ/ --> j+, /g/ --> j or ɰ. In words with more than one intervocalic lenis stop, only the last one is changed to an approximant. Word-terminal lenis stops are deleted in speech, unless the next word starts with a vowel. In some dialects the preceding vowel is deleted (unless it is preceded by a diphthong or a stressed monophthong), especially if the deleted vowel is preceded by a plosive or nasal that does not share PoA with the deleted (lenis) stop. #Rule 3 does not apply if /b/, /d/, /ȡ/, /t/ appear geminate in writing: , < dd >, <ḍḍ>, - or if they appear in the onset of a stressed syllable. # /xw/ and /ʍ/ are in free variation. The sounds developed from ɧ, which some speakers still use. There are further varying dialectal realizations such as: θwɣ, ɕw, çwɣ, ɣw, χw, ħw, hw. #n adopts the PoA of whichever plosive/fricative it precedes. E.g. ng becomes ŋg – except if it follows a bilabial or alveolo-palatal sound. #/n/ often loses voice in front of /t/ and becomes n̥. The same happens with /mp/, /ňṭ/ and /nk/. # /ɾ/ is in free variation with r, ʀ and ʁ. #Back vowels cause the following /l/ and /l̥/ to be velarized. #If a voiced sound precedes an unvoiced one, it loses its voice and vice versa. #/k/ and /g/ are realized as ɕ/ʑ in front of ø>. /ki, ky, ke, kø, gi, gy, ge, gø/ are represented as ø, gui, guy, goe, goø>. #Adding to alveolar sounds yields alveolo-palatal sounds: ȵ, ȴ, ȶ, ɕ, ʑ, voiceless ȴ, etc. # and is realized as ɕ (if in stressed syllable or word-initial), else as ʑ. #/ɾ/ + /d or t/ yields r. #/ʋ, j/ surrounded by two consonants yields syllabic ʊ/ɪ. #Alveolo-Palatals, /l̥/ and /xw/ only appear in open class words. #tɕ becomes ȶɕ, and tʃ becomes tʃ. #Many dialects still obtain the pharyngeal fricative ħ, and contrast it with h. Also many speakers pharyngealize many sounds when in the environment of back vowels: ðʕ, zʕ, ʑʕ, ʒʕ, lʕ, l̥ʕ, nʕ, etc. #Earlier stages of Begonian used phonemic ejectives. This is still visible in modern-day writing, as /t/, /p/, /ȶ/ and /k/ can appear geminate in writing – this however has no effect on pronounciation. The alveolo-palatal ejective was often realized as ç’ or sometimes ɕ’, x’ or χ’, which has retained in some dialects for <ṭṭ> and . #/f/ and /v/ only appear in loanwords and are usually replaced by ʋ, ð and/or θ. #An epenthetic ɦ is added between words ending/beginning with vowels. Syllable structure ©©CV/VC/CVC©; V ~ any mono- or diphthong, C ~ any consonant (semi-vowels included) Phonotactical restrictions Forbidden clusters *CCCC *VVV *Plosive-Plosive/Nasal */t, d/ + /l/ */t, d, ȡ, ȶ/ + /ð, θ/ */g, k/ + /x, ʍ/ */b, p, m, n/ + /ʋ/ */xw/ + C Allowed word-initial CCC clusters *Fricative-Plosive-Liquid *Plosive-Fricative-/j, ʋ/ *Fricative-Nasal-/j/ *Plosive-Liquid-/j/ (unless /dl, tl/) Furthermore *Any cluster consisiting of more than one dental/alveolar/post-alveolar/palato-alveolar fricative is forbidden. *All phonemes except for l̥, xw and h can appear word-terminally. Vowels Monophthongs Diphthongs Additionally, Begonian employs the following diphthongs: Allophony #/ɨ/ has the allophone ʉ after sounds with a labialized quality. #/æ/ at the beginning of a word is written as . #/ɒ/ In free variation with ɔ. #The slashes indicate there are two main dialectal realizations. Some dialects reduce the diphthongs to its second vowel. #Nasal consonants cause the preceding vowels to be nasalized. #Open-class words can have (phonemic) pitch accent on their first syllable in the root. It’s usually a rising-falling tone and is applied to ca. 5-10% of all words. Unstressed Position (Pro) Nouns Declension Begonian is an agglutinating (for the most part), tripartite language: f.e. declension of the noun ˈkɒ̃m.pjʏ.ʰtəɾ #If the root ends in a vowel, it is deleted when adding a suffix starting with another vowel. #The declension depends on whether the nucleus of the last syllable in the root is front (then the blue endings apply) or back (then the green endings apply.) If the ending contains only central vowels, no differentiation is made. #Benefactive is becoming increasingly archaic and can be replaced by the dative. #Begonian differentiates between dual and plural (more than 2). The duality affix –'h(é)' precedes case markers, while the plurality suffix –'þa '''comes afterwards. #Begonian is a (partly) ergative language – meaning that a suffix (here: -'''eg') has to be added to signalize that the following verb is (di)transitive. Morphonological rules: If... #...declension/conjugation ever lead to a form including a forbidden sound sequence the vowel directly preceding that is added in between. #...two diphthongs clash, the first is being reduced to its corresponding monophthong. (-héín --> -heín) #...a diphthong precedes a monophthong, it is being reduced aswell. (-héym --> -heym) #...the root ends in three consonants and the suffix starts with a consonant, then the nucleus of the last syllable of the root gets added in between: (-CaCCC+C --> –CaCCCaC; not –CaCCCC) Affricates count as two consonants in Rule 3. #...more than three vowels clash, the vowel-cluster is reduced to its last two constituents. #...identical vowels/diphthongs clash, they are reduced to one: (-hééna --> -héna) Notice that these rules only apply for the pronounciation, the graphemic representation is not affected. Possession Words like “my”, “your”, etc. are expressed in suffixes: *The first /o/ is pronounced as an e-Schwa. There are two possibilities to express possession of the third person – both are completely equivalent in meaning. The same morphological rules apply. Again, endings are differentianted by front vs. back. If possession and case markers combine, possession markers precede the case markers, e.g.: *without my two computers: kåmpjutermæhéned vs. *without our (two) computer: kåmpjuterhemned vs. *without our (two) two computers: kåmpjuterhemhéned Stress/Prosodic Features Stress is usually conveyed with a rising, or rising/falling tone, depending on the speaker. #In words with three syllables or fewer, there’s always slight stress on the first syllable. #In words with more than three syllables, the first and fourth syllable are being stressed. #In clusters of affixes, the first syllable is being stressed, independently of where stress is placed in the root of the word: *SW1-SW2-SF1-SF2 would have its stress on the first and third syllable *SW1-SW2-SW3-SW4-SW5-SF1-SF2 on the first, fourth and sixth *SF1-SF2-SW1-SW2-SF1-SF2-SF3 on the first, third and fifth (SW = syllable in the root, SF = syllable in the affix cluster.) Preaspiration #Can only fall on /p, t, ȶ, k/ or the correspondent affricates. #First /p, t, ȶ, k/ of a word is preaspirated, unless it is in the onset of a stressed syllable (which is when it it (post)aspirated) or in the coda of the last syllable (which is where there’s no aspiration at all). #If any of the four mentioned sounds appear together with another consonant, aspiration is blocked altogether. #Preaspiration and non-aspiration are always in alternation: /tata/ would be thata, /tatata/ would be thatahta, /natata/ would be nahtata, /natatat/ would be nahtatat, /nanatat/ would be nanahtat, /'na'tana'ta'tat/ would be nahtanathatat, /'ta'tanta'ta'tata/ would be thatantathatahta. #Preaspiration can’t fall on syllables with /h/ in the onset. #'Preaspiration is not phonemic and in fact you may aspirate sounds as you wish, this is just the most common realization.' Pronominal Pronouns Possibility 1 #Differentiation between singular and dual only in spelling. #No differentiation between singular and dual. #No differentiation in gender. Begonian further gives the possibility to differentiate between inclusive and exclusive “we”: Inclusive “we” is the standard usage, to express that the speaker himself is not included, add the postposition: “mæsvned”. Declension of pronominal pronouns Declension of personal pronouns do not follow the morphophonological rules behind the declension of open class words. For nominative and dative/accusative just add the same endings and apply the same rules as listed above. For the other cases, the endings are added to a different root: becomes for ergative, for genitive, etc. This also adds a second possibility to express possession: kåmpjuterníd vs. kåmpjuter tuvín (=your computer) Though the second version sounds a bit old-fashioned and isn’t really used by younger speakers. Possibility 2 This becomes relevant in sentences with a simple direct (dative) and/or indirect (accusative) object. In this case pronominal pronouns may be represented as simple affixes put ahead of the affixes of verb conjugation: (Naiddeg) mæsvi kýdžak. (3SG-ERG) 1SG-ACC hear-(3SG.PRES) Naidd-0-eg mæsv-0-i kýdž-ak. = He hears me. means the same as - simply: Kýdžsak. hear-(1SG-ACC)-(3SG.PRES) Kýdž-s(a)-ak. Demonstrative Pronouns There is no differentiation between whether the object being referred to is close to the speaker or further away. <''Óm'' (ómeg, ómín, …)> can be used to refer to objects from previous sentences or objects that are very far away (comparable to German “jene”). Moreover, it serves as contrast: “I don’t like these (jáÞi), but I do like those (ómi).” Indefiniteness To express indefiniteness add the particle “ápy” (optional): The computer: /kåmpjuter/ A computer: /kåmpjuter ápy/ Ápy is used when one wants to refer to something in general (e.g. as in “I love cats (ápy).”) or in a similar matter the indefinite article is used in English, but not as frequently: The object(s) referred to need to be even “more indefinite”.* *really no idea how to explain that one more appropriately. Relative Pronouns Relative pronouns have to be put at the very beginning of a subordinate clause and follow the same declension as nouns. Verbs Verbs can begin and end with any phoneme, as long as the phonotactical rules aren’t breached. Basically it’s not possible to tell verbs apart from nouns in isolation. Conjugation Non-Finite Forms However, there are certain prefixes speakers can employ to signalize that he is using certain infinite forms: e.g. for ’khʌtaɪ̯ (grow, increase – intrans.), ’ɾizɐn (sit) Again, one has to differentiate two different sets of prefixes that are used depending on whether it’s surrounded by front or back vowels. Present Indicative Basic verb conjugation in the present''' tense (indicative)'' works as follows: Indicative is used whenever something is likely to happen, happens regularly, or happens at the moment. When two vowels clash, the vowel of the root wins. Present Irrealis Conjugation in the ''irrealis mode – presens'': The irrealis marker is –uit. This mode is used whenever one wants to express that one hopes/fears for something to happen, or would do something, thinks something is unlikely/impossible, or he’s not entirely sure whether something is to happen, or there’s not sufficient information etc. Which affix to employ depends on whether it is surrounded by front or back vowels. Immediate Past Indicative Remote Past Indicative Immediate/Remote Distinction Basically, immediate past is used when the the action referred to has happened not too long before and still has consequences until speaker’s time. However, the definition of “not too long” is relative: One uses the immediate past to express that one thinks something happened not too long ago, so for the sentence: “The last big war happened (only) 1000 years ago.” You would want to use the immediate past, when you think 1000 years is not much time in this case – or another example: “Dinosaurs have gone extinct (only) 65 mil. years ago.” …whereas one uses the remote past to express something happened a long time ago in relation to the context: “Man, it’s been over 50 years since Schalke 04 last won the German championsship.” --> would warrant for the usage of the remote past, even though 50-odd years is by far not as long a time span as 1000 years or 65 million years. To make things more drastic: “I’ve already come home 3 hours ago (instead of, let’s say, 1 hour as expected).” --> would also warrant for the usage of the remote past. Apart from a very few cases, you would never produce an ungrammtical sentence if you wrongly used the other past tense than intended, it’s just you’d express something else. In sentences where more than one actions are being described and one happened before the other, you have to use the remote past for the former action and immediate past for the latter. Immediate Past Irrealis ...is being formed by adding /-ýn-/, /-uon-/ between the root and the immediate past indicative endings: rizanýnpeli, rizanýnpura, rizanýnpak,... Remote Past Irrealis Irrealis Past forms are used to express that something should have happened, you wish for something to have happened, but can’t happen anymore. That somebody should have done something, or for something that would have happened in an alternative scenario. Immediate Future 1Note that in these cases, vowel assimilation does not apply. Also the future tense is special in that fusional endings are applied. Distant Future The rule behind the usage of the two future forms is similar to that of the past forms – if something happens soon in relation to the context, use the immediate form, otherwise use the distant form. Negation In order to negate verb, just add /é(n)-/: /rizaneli/ --> /érizaneli, érizanura/, ... In compund forms, add the suffix to the postposition: /hyrizan cara/ --> /hyrizan écara, hyrizan énerui/, ... Imperative Imperative is formed by using the correspondent irrealis forms: Rizanuitura! (Sit (Sg.) down!) – Myllnuitvýra! (Throw (Pl.)!) Gerund Gerund ''is formed by adding /-(i)lut-/ to the root of the verb and by adding the same endings as for nouns. /rizanilut kjódza/ ‘ɕɔʊdzɐ (= the sitting boy, Abs.) Aspect ''Progressive/Atelic aspects can be expressed by adding /-(i)v, -(u)v/ to the root: (But is not obligatory) /egis koitåk/ (He will sit). vs. /egis giávnevátÞa koituvåk./ (He will sit for hours) Passive Passive is formed by using the following endings + past participle: For future and past, use the correspondent forms of /ja/ (to be). Another possibility of forming passive voice is by using an infix –ja–. The agent of a passive sentence is marked by the Perlative case. In some cases, the –ja- affix can also be left out if the context if clear enough. Reflexivity To express reflexivity use /vax, vaxeg, vaxín,.../ and add it right next to the subject it’s referring to. Syntax Begonian is for the most part a head-final language. Basic word order is SOV 'both for main and subordinate clauses – however one is free to scramble the words as one wishes because of extensive case marking. Instead of adding all the endings to each word, one can choose to leave them away and instead stack them in front of or after the verb... an example: (1) '''Rizanilut(eg) kjódzog ẋuivi halvadéna urizezæned myllnpak. ' ˈɕɔʊ̯.d͡zʊ ˈxʷʉ.ʋaɪ̯ ˈhal.ʋaˌðɛ̃æ̯̃.nɐ ˈɦu.ɾaɪ̯.zɪˌzæ̃.nə ˈmyl̥n.pʰak Sit-GER-ERG boy-ERG snow-ACC cat-ALL admission-(1P.POSS)-ABE throw-PST-3SG.IND Rizan-ilut-(eg) kjódz-og ẋuiv-i halvad-éna urize-zæ-ned mylln-p-ak. = The sitting boy threw snow at the cat without my admission. The following sentence has the exact same meaning: (2) Rizaniluteg kjódzog ẋuivi halvad urizezæ '''énaned mamyllny 'iÞrak'. ˈɕɔʊ̯.d͡zʊ ˈxʷʉ.ʋaɪ̯ ˈhal.ʋɐ ˈɦu.ɾaɪ̯.zɪˌzæ ˈɦɛ̃æ̯̃.nã.nə ˈmã.myl̥.ny ˈɦiθ.ɾɐk Sit-GER-ERG boy-ERG snow-ACC cat-ABS admission-(1P.POSS)-ABS ALL-ABE (INF.PST.IND)-throw AUX.(3SG.ERG.AN-3SG.ACC.INAN) Rizan-ilut-eg kjódz-og ẋuiv-i halvad-0 urize-zæ-0 éna-ned ma-myllny iÞ-rak. It is important to keep the right order in the case marking clusters. The following sentence... Rizaniluteg kjódzog ẋuivi halvad urizezæ nedéna '''mamyllny i'þrak'. ˈɕɔʊ̯.d͡zʊ ˈxʷʉ.ʋaɪ̯ ˈhal.ʋɐ ˈɦu.ɾaɪ̯.zɪˌzæ ˈne.ðɛ̃æ̯̃.nɐ ˈmã.myl̥.ny ˈɦiθ.ɾɐk Sit-GER-ERG boy-ERG snow-ACC cat-ABS admission-(1P.POSS)-ABS ABE-ALL (INF.PST.IND)-throw AUX.(3SG.ERG.AN-3SG.ACC.INAN) Rizan-ilut-eg kjódz-og ẋuiv-i halvad-0 urize-zæ-0 ned-éna ma-myllny iþ-rak. ...would translate to: ''The sitting boy threw snow at my admission without the cat. (1) is the formal alternative, (2) is used in casual/informal conversations. Word order in sentences like (2): SUBJ - (dir. O) - indir. O - (adverbs) - case cluster - infinite verb (affixes) - Verb cluster To negate a sentence add /é-/ to the verb. To negate special aspects of a sentence add the /é-/ to whichever word you want to negate: Rizanilut(eg) kjódzog ẋuivi halvadéna urizezæned é'''myllnpak. (É')rizanilut(eg) 'é'kjódzog ẋuivi halvadéna urizezæned émyllnpak. Rizanilut(eg) kjódzog ẋuivi 'é'halvadéna urizezæned émyllnpak. One only has to add necessary affixes to the head of a phrase, but may opt to add it to the rest of the phrase for extra clarity. Questions To '''form questions', pull the verb to the front and add /há/ right after it: Myllnpak há rizanilut(eg) kjódzog ẋuivi halvadéna urizezæned? Myllnpak há ẋuivi halvadéna urizezæned rizanilut(eg) kjódzog? (etc.) = Did the sitting boy throw snow at the cat without my admission? Questions are answered either by replying with “'Vjédi'” (Yes) or “'Næg'” (No) Myllnpak hávjédi rizanilut(eg) kjódzog ẋuivi halvadéna urizezæned? Would imply the speakers expects a “yes” as answer. Relative Clauses Relative clauses are initiated using ésta '(animate)/áti (inanimate)' and have to follow exactly that word they refer to: Rizanilut(eg) kjódzog ẋuivi halvadéna urizezæned, ésti naiddeg lásýnpak, myllnpak. ˈɕɔʊ̯.d͡zʊ ˈxʷʉ.ʋaɪ̯ ˈhal.ʋaˌðɛ̃æ̯̃.nɐ ˈɦu.ɾaɪ̯.zɪˌzæ̃.nə ˈɦɛæ̯s.ti ˈnaɪ̯.də ˈla.sʏ̃ɵ̯̃nˌpʰak ˈmyl̥n.pʰak Sit-GER-ERG boy-ERG snow-ACC cat-ALL admission-(1P.POSS)-ABE, REL-ACC 3SG-ERG need-IRR-PST-3SG throw-PST-3SG.IND Rizan-ilut-(eg) kjódz-og ẋuiv-i halvad-éna urize-zæ-ned, ést-i naidd-eg las-ýn-p-ak, mylln-p-ak. = The sitting boy threw snow at the cat without my admission, which he would have needed. Rizanilut(eg) kjódzog dinjak, ekui naiddeg (ómeg) ád ématýnpak. ˈɕɔʊ̯.d͡zʊ ˈdĩ.ȵɐk ˈeʰ.ki ˈnaɪ.də aʊ̯ð ˈɛ̃æ̯̃.maˌʰtʏ̃ɵ̯̃n.pɐk Sit-GER-ERG boy-ERG say-3SG, CNJ-ACC 3SG-ERG 3SG.INAN NEG-do-PST-3SG Rizan-ilut-(eg) kjódz-og dinja-k ek(u)-i naidd-eg ád é-matýn-p-ak = The boy said, that he didn’t do it. Conjunctions List of some of the most important subordinate conjunctions: In the example above, the subordinate phrase is the object of the whole sentence, so you have to add the corresponding ending /-i/ to the subordinate conjunction. If the subordinate phrase is the subject of the sentence, use the absolutive/ergative case. Ek naiddeg ád ématýnpak, évoryk. ‘naɪ̯.də ‘aʊð ‘ɛ̃æ̯̃.maˌʰtʏ̃ɵ̯̃n.pɐk 'ɛæ̯.ʋʊ,ɾysk CNJ-'ABS' 3SG-ERG 3SG.INAN NEG-do-PST-3SG, NEG-be.true-3SG Ek-0 naidd-eg ád é-matýn-p-ak, é-vory-k = That (Abs.) he didn’t do it, is not true. Ekoeg naiddeg ád ématýnpak, naiddi palltapak. ‘naɪ̯.də ‘aʊð ‘ɛ̃æ̯̃.maˌʰtʏ̃ɵ̯̃n.pɐk ˈnaɪ̯.di ˈphaɬ.taˌpʰak CNJ-'ERG' 3SG-ERG 3SG.INAN NEG-do-PST-3SG, 3SG-ACC shock-PST-3SG Ek(o)-eg naidd-eg ád é-matýn-p-ak, é-vory-k pallta-p-ak = That (Erg.) he didn’t do it, shocked her. Verbal constructions Džon (vi)žapyst, ekui køndecéna (vi)ṡytivi. (PRES.IND.INF)-prepare, CNJ-ACC test-ALL (PRES.IND.INF)-learn Džon-0 vi-žapyst, ek(u)-i køndec-éna vi-ṡytivi. = John prepares to learn for the test. to-clauses are formed by implementing subordinate clauses. This is, unless the subclause only consists of a single non-finite form, where that can be put next to the finite form: Džon (vi)ṡytivi žapystak. John-ABS PRES.IND.INF-learn prepare-3.SG Džon-0 vi-ṡytivi žapyst-ak. = John prepares to learn Topic Marking To stress a certain aspect of the sentence, just pull to the word to the front. However, in subordinate phrases introduced by certain conjunctions there’s obligatory focus marking. Consider the following the following sentences: (1) Madinja iþsaň, ekui mja halvadi pjukuipak. ˈiθ.sɐ̃ȵ ˈeʰki mja ˈhal.ʋaˌði ˈpju.ʰkɨˌpʰak AUX.(3SG AN-1SG) that-ACC SAME cat-ACC feed-PST-3SG. Ma-dinja iþ-saň, ek(u)-i mja halvad-i pjukui-p-ak. (= He told me, that he fed the cat.) (2) Madinja iþsaň, ak mja halvadi ekui pjukuipak. AUX.(3SG AN-1SG) CONJ SAME cat-ACC that-ACC feed-PST-3SG. (= He told me, that it was the cat that he fed.) (3) Madinja iþsaň, ak mja halvadi pjukuipak ekui. AUX.(3SG AN-1SG) CONJ SAME cat-ACC feed-PST-3SG that-ACC. (= He told me, that it was that he fed the cat.) (1) is the unmarked situation. If a certain aspect of the subordinate clause is stressed use the “neutral” conjuncion /ak/ and place ekui after the word which forms the focus. The same mechanism can be used to get rid of ambiguities in relative clauses: Rizanilut(eg) kjódzog ẋuivi halvadéna urizezæned, ésti '''naiddeg lásýnpak, myllnpak. can be rearranged to (example): Rizanilut(eg) kjódzog '''urizezæned ésti ẋuivi halvadéna, ak naiddeg lásýnpak, myllnpak. /urizezæned ésti/ can be freely shuffled around, the only condition being that /ésti/ has to follow /urizezæned/. Correlatives Syntax of W-questions: Begin with the verb, then the pronomen, then Subject-Object. Rizanilut(eg) kjódzog ẋuivi halvadéna urizezæned myllný --> Myllnpak hággui rizaniluteg kjódzog halvadéna urizezæned? (= What did the boy throw... ?) Myllnpak hákbo rizaniluteg kjódzog halvadéna urizezæned? (=When did he do it?) Myllnpak hákoéna ... ? (=Where/To whose direction did he throw it?) Myllnpak hággned ...? (=Without what did he throw it?) Myllnpak hákoeg ...? (=Who threw the snow to the cat w/o my admission?) Further examples: Rizanilut(eg) kjódzog dinjak, ekui naiddeg ád ématýnpak. Rizaniluteg kjódzog édinjak, ésteci''' naiddeg ád matýnpak. (= The boy doesn’t say, '''where (Acc)''' he did it.) Rizaniluteg kjódzog édinjak, '''hékvi''' naiddeg ád matýnpak. (= The boy doesn’t say, '''how (Acc)''' he did it.) Rizaniluteg kjódzog édinjak, '''hékoéni''' naiddeg ád matýnpak. (= The boy doesn’t say, '''in which direction (Acc)' he did (throw) it.) Ambiguities In phrases where '''more than one '''person is being referred to, it is possible to add markers to avoid ambiguities: ''Naiddegap mæsvi palltavyk, naiddegep mæsvi épalltavyk. Jástegap / Jástegoep... = The one person shocks me, the other doesn’t. The former / The latter ... However one can replace “naiddegap” by “jásteg” and “naiddegep” by “ómeg” and have the problem put aside. (1) Džonogg'''ap þá Melisegg'ap' oðkami'ep' ixóppak, hrak ep skænytvøkpak. θaʊ̯ ˈme.laɪ̯.sɪˌgap ˈoð.kãˌmi.ɪp ˈix.ɔʊ̯ˌpʰak hɾak eʰp ˈskæ̃.nyʰtˌʋø.kø̆.pɐk [John-ERG-'DET' and Melissa-ERG-'DET' ticket-ACC-'DET' buy-VOL-PST-3PL, but DET be.sold out-all-PST-3PL Džon-og(g)-ap þá Melis-eg(g)-ap oðkam-i-ep ix-óp-p-ak, hrak ep skænyt-vøk-p-ak. John and Melissa(-'''ap') wanted to buy concert tickets(-'ep'), but they(-'ep') were all sold out.'' -ep signifies in this case, that the subject of the subclause is not identical with the one in the main phrase. Let’s add a second sentence: (2) They instead went to the people in the bar. What is “they” referring to? In Begonian, one can add “-ap” to clearify, that John and Melissa are the subject of the sentence, and “-ep” for the tickets to be the subject. Since there are no separate pronomina for masculine/feminine, these markers come in handy very often. There is no obligation to use “-ap” and “-ep” for markers, one could use whatever s/he wants, as long as everything remains pragmatical. -ap/-ep also help solve ambiguities in multi-clausal sentences like the following: Vaḍunmánog hjamuluÞå ápy éskágilltínusmít'ap' mæsthéix myllnýk, áti mæsvi épalltavak. = It doesnt surprise me, that the player throws balls more king-like than us two. = It doesn’t surprise me, that it is more king-like... '' '' Vaḍunmánog hjamuluÞå ápy éskágilltínusmít mæsthéix'ap' myllnýk, áti mæsvi épalltavak. = It doesnt surprise me, that the player throws balls more king-like than us two. = It doesn’t surprise me, that it is us two, ... '' '' Vaḍunmánog hjamuluÞå'ap' ápy éskágilltínusmít mæsthéix myllnýk, áti mæsvi épalltavak. = It doesnt surprise me, that the player throws balls more king-like than us two. = It doesn’t surprise me, that it is the balls, ... Switch Reference Also, one has the possibility to add the postposition “nén” to signify, that an object of one part of a sentence is not identical with that of the other “I am working a book, he’s working on a book “nén”: Jálkamaňæde vunókjola kuymne iktarrak, toňix naiddinén hjeména pryhaṭpeli. ˈʋũnɔʊ̯ɕʊˌla ˈkʰỹmnə 'iʰkĭtaˌraʰk ˈtʰõɲ̟aɪ̯x̟ ˈnaɪ̯dĩnɛ̃æ̯̃n ˈhjẽmɛ̃æ̯̃nɐ ˈpɾyhaȶăʰpelaɪ̯ [Mathematics-INSTR INF-teach try AUX.(1SG-3SG.AN.DO-3SG.INAN.IO), then 3SG-ACC-'DIFF' home-ALL drive-PST-1SG] Jálkamaň-æde vu-nókjola kuymne ik-tar-rak, toňix naidd-i-nén hjem-éna pryhaṭ-p-eli. = I tried to teach him mathematics, later I drove him (another ‘him’) home. The opposite is also possible with the postposition “mja”: Jálkamaňæde vunókjola kuymne iktarrak, toňix naiddimja hjeména pryhaṭpeli. ˈʋũnɔʊ̯ɕʊˌla ˈkʰỹmnə 'iʰkĭtaˌraʰk ˈtʰõɲ̟aɪ̯x̟ ˈnaɪ̯dĩmjɐ ˈhjẽmɛ̃æ̯̃nɐ ˈpɾyhaȶăʰpelaɪ̯ [Mathematics-INSTR INF-teach try AUX.(1SG-3SG.AN.DO-3SG.INAN.IO), then 3SG-ACC-'SAME' home-ALL drive-PST-1SG] = I tried to teach him mathematics, later I drove him (the same ‘him’) home. If the subject of the main and subordinate phrase is identical, one can use /óm, ómeg, .../ in the subordinate phrase aswell: Jálkamaňæde vunókjola kuymne iktarrak, toňix 'ómi hjeména pryhaṭpeli.'' Equative Sentences: Adjectives can also work like verbs, just add the correspondent verb affixes: Jást yzlor '''épógyakak. ˈyz.lʊɾ ˈɛæ̯.ʰpɔʊ̯.ʑa.ʰkak DEM-ABS overview-ABS NEG-be.boring-3SG.PRES Jást-0 yzlor-0 é-pógyak-ak = This overview is not boring. (yeah right...) For nouns, the verb “ja” (to be) functions as copulum. Further example sentences: Mæna ékráveli, ekui óskara 'jyék, ésteg råggulltusk vaḍunmánus pudzju byćonu hyminebzi eruik.' 1-(SG-ABS) NEG-think-(1-PRES-IND), that-ACC referee-ABS EXIST-(3-PRES-IRR), who-(ABS) football-ADJ player-DAT red-ACC card-ACC (Remote-PAST)-show 3PS 'ɛæ̯ʰkɾaʊ̯ˌela͡ɪ 'eʰki 'ɔʊ̯skaɾɐ 'ɥeʰk 'ɛæ̯ste 'ɾɒgʏɬˌtusk 'ʋaʊ̯j̟ʏ̃nˌmaʊ̯̃nʏs 'pʰudzjʏ 'byt͡͡ʃõnʏ 'hyˌmĩnebzaɪ̯ 'eɾɨʰk = I don’t think there’s any referee, who would have shown the football player the red card. Adjectives Adjectives usually precede the noun they describe, but are put afterwards in order to express subjective opinion/preception. One can also leave out the endings if it isn’t felt to be necessary to carry across the gist of a sentence. Adverbs Adverbs ''are formed by adding the suffix /-es (front), -os (back)/: /mésto/ (fast, adj.) --> /ésmésto/ (fast, adverb). /-ínus/ can be added to the root of the adjective to express ''similarity: /kágillt/ (king) vs. /kágilltínus/ (king-like) /-mán/ can be added to the root of the adjective to transform it into nouns: /vaḍun/ (play) --> /vaḍunmán/ Comparisons /-mít-/ forms the comparative form of adjectives: /kágilltínusmít/ (more king-like) Vaḍunmánog hjamulu þ''' ' å ápy éskágilltínusmít mæsthé'ix''' myllnýk. ‘hjã.mʏ,lu.θɒ ‘ɦaʊ.ʰpy ‘ɛæ̯s.kaʊ.ʑil̥,tʰɪ̃ə̯̃.nʏs.mɪə̯t ˈmæst,hɛ.ix ˈmyɬˌnʏ̃ɵ̯k ball-ACC-PL NDEF ADV-king-SEMBL-COMP 1-DUAL-COMP throw-3SG.PRES Vaḍun-mán-og hjamul-u-þå ápy és-kágillt-ínus-mít mæst-hé-ix myllný-k. = The player throws baseballs more king-like than us two. There’s no separate superlative form – in order to express that someone is the best at something one uses the comparative form without comparing anyone: Vaḍunmánog hjamuluþå ápy éskágilltínusmít myllnýk. = The player throws baseballs the most king-like. = The player throws baseballs very king-like. (is another possible translation) as... as – construction: Vaḍunmánog hjamuluþå ápy éskágilltínusmít mæsthé'iut' (= Essive) myllnýk. = The player throws baseballs as '''king-like '''as us two. Note that one is using the comparative form here aswell. Modifications